The AFIP, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology is where this book takes place. In the book it oversees a mish mash of things, research into the genetics of nasty viruses, oversees the DOD blood bank, develops stuff to help the military and even has a forensic unit that is charged with doing the forensics for the military and executive branches.

When a new director gets appointed, Colonel Jack Wiatt, he focuses in on the forensics because he was supposed to have gotten the director position at the FBI. Doctor Alexandra Blake doesn't like it or him. She's trying to find a vaccine for the 1918 Spanish Flue and in addition gets made head of a forensic DNA lab and slowly gets pulled into Jack's investigations.

The writing in the book is alright and most of the characters are well written, their dialogue too. The only problem with the characters was that they were pretty unsympathetic, Jack was a jerk, and Alex for the most part was pretty pathetic. The two characters I really liked actually had the first letter of their names. Luke was Alex's ex-boyfriend and Larry, a developmentally disabled guy that Alex befriended during the novel. Most of the rest of the characters made me frown, but when Luke or Larry were in a scene it usually brought a smile to my face.

Not a bad book, but I've read better forensic mysteries. ( )

Echt genoten van dit boek. Het is geen hoogstandje maar hij leest wel heel prettig. Gewoon een boek om tussendoor even lekker mee te ontspannen. ( )

A rather predictable thriller about a woman using DNA sequencing to solve a set of murders. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I'm always in search of new authors and happened to pick this up while browsing. Billed as a 'forensic thriller,' I wasn't quite expecting the methodical (but not dragging) pacing of the plot. I thought the background genetics information was really interesting -- come to find out that the author is 'a renowned expert on law and genetics.' Not your average mystery writer! (Well, o.k., barring Linda Fairstein, I suppose.) And although I thought the conclusion was a bit too pat, Andrews did make it logical and (mostly) believable. One thing that I thought really stood out was the way Andrews created a poignant background story for the protagonist that went a long way in explaining her motivation while not being maudlin.

I look forward to reading the follow-up Dr. Alexandra Blake books! ( )